All the Best Lies
by Elphaba C. Snow Thropp
Summary: That awkward moment when your wife shows up at NCIS. That other awkward moment when your wife is Kate Todd. AN: I haven't decided on the pairing yet.
1. Shooting the Moon

**All the Best Lies, They Are Told with Fingers Tied**

**By Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**

**Chapter I: Shooting the Moon**

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><p><em>What can he tell 'em now? Sorry I let you down? Sorry, it wasn't quite true. But don't get hung up on it. Just soldier on with it.<em>

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><p>Wednesday. NCIS Headquarters. Squadroom. 10:21am. Agents Gibbs, DiNozzo, David and McGee were present. Fornell stepped off the elevator and made his way to Gibbs's desk.<p>

"And to what do I owe this pleasure, Tobias?" Gibbs drawled lazily without looking up from his computer as Fornell loomed over him. It was paperwork day and like the rest of his team, he was more than eager to take on a case.

"I need your help."

He glanced up. "With what?"

"It's about Agent Todd."

There was a beat of silence when all of Gibbs's agents slowly lifted their heads to collectively look at the FBI agent.

"What _about_ Agent Todd?" The senior NCIS agent questioned, giving up his full attention. His agents followed suit.

"She's not dead and she's in danger," Fornell said, taking a folder from his coat and pulling out four pictures to put in front of the silver haired man.

"She's in danger?" As soon as the words left her mouth, Ziva gave herself a mental slap on the back of the head. "I-I mean, she's not-she's not dead?"

Tony wasn't fooled. "Wait, you knew?"

She visibly grimaced at the bite in his tone. She knew this was going to blow up in her face. This was why she hated secret operations. "That is not the dot, Tony."

"The point," he corrected automatically.

"The _point_ is that she is in danger. What kind of danger is she in, Agent Fornell?"

"She's right. We can discuss how Agent Todd is alive later." Fornell picked up the picture of a large, burly, scowling Middle Eastern man and flashed it to the agents. "This is Tamir Farid. He-"

"-works for Mossad," Ziva interrupted, her brows wrinkled in confusion. "I know him. We trained together. What does he have to do with my- with Caitl- with Agent Todd?"

Her team members shot their eyes to her when they heard her almost say Kate's given name. The only people they ever knew who called her that were Ducky and Ari.

"I was getting to that, Officer David," he gave a her pointed look and she closed her mouth. "Agent Todd was sent to Israel after we were able to produce a solid cover for her. Farid was the Mossad officer assigned to watch people watching her, to make sure her cover stayed secure. Todd did damn near perfect on her mission, but she got some attention from some unexpected persons. Farid's girlfriend was one of Todd's friends while she was on her mission, one of the few that knew she wasn't there to just visit. They got close and Todd claims they're just friends, but the girlfriend," he paused and picked up the picture of a short, thin, attractive Middle Eastern woman. "Broke up with Farid because she says she's in love with our agent. And she's not the only woman that was hung up on Todd in Israel."

"You do not believe that Caitlin and this woman weren't intimate." It was said as a statement, not a question.

"No, Officer David, I don't," he clipped.

"Why not?" Gibbs asked, eyeing the way Ziva was incessantly tapping her pen on her desk.

"They are not sleeping together, Agent Fornell," the Israeli woman announced definitively as she stood.

"Oh? And how do you know?" The bald man inquired condescendingly, clearly not believing her.

"That is not important at the moment. Tell me what this has to do with Caitlin being in danger," she demanded to know impatiently before she narrowed her eyes and looked at her watch.

"Farid wasn't very happy when he found out that his woman left him for another woman. Her plane lands in thirty minutes and he might be on it. We don't know exactly what his plan is, but we think he'll go after the baby," he informed them, picking up a picture of smiling, green eyed, half Middle Eastern toddler.

Ziva snatched the picture and spoke while she scrutinzed it. "You don't think...?"

"Hold on, Kate had a baby?" McGee broke in, having broken out of his trance at the news that Kate was still alive.

"Part of her cover was that she had to legally marry an Israeli for protection" Without waiting for Gibbs' criticism, Fornell continued. "We needed her safe at all times and that was the best way we knew how. She was untouchable because of her new last name the entire time. Having the baby was a decision she and her spouse made when it was clear that Agent Todd wasn't in any danger. Her name is-"

"Noah. She is two years old, she has green eyes, dimples and she laughs at everything. She likes to play with bugs even though Caitlin hates them, she is not easily distracted and despite her issues with pronunciation, she can say Gibbs with no problem," Ziva rattled off as she ran a finger over the picture of the child. It was as if she was reading the picture back to them, like it was a list. "And she bites. Fornell, you believe that Farid is on her flight, yes?"

He nodded. "We think so, yeah."

"And the girlfriend?" She prompted.

"The girlfriend? What about her?"

"Do you know if she is on the plane?"

The elevator _dinged_, but none of them seemed to notice until Fornell opened his mouth and another voice cut him off. "As a matter of fact, she was on the plane and so was Farid, but now he's on his way into an interrogation room. And look at that, no more speculating."

Everything inside of Ziva became soft and cold and hot at the same time and she felt herself sag as she turned around. "Caitlin," she breathed heavily, her voice betraying almost nothing and just about everything. How was she to feel?

"Shalom, Ziva. Did you miss me?"

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><p><strong>Reivew, per favore.<strong>

**~Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**


	2. The Guilty Ones

**All the Best Lies, They Are Told With Fingers Tied**

**By Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**

**Chapter II: The Guilty Ones**

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><p><em>Something started crazy, sweet, and unknown. Something you keep in a box on the street. Now it's longing for a home.<em>

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><p><em>Whoosh!<em>

Blood pounded in her ears as it rushed to her head. Her whole body felt like she'd been sitting in a freezer for hours while the room felt like it was on fire. Her mouth felt like it had been filled with cotton and the lump in her throat felt like knives when she tried to swallow. She was dizzy and lightheaded and she wasn't sure she hated it even as her heart hammered in her chest and she couldn't quite get enough oxygen to her lungs. She would endure all that and more if it meant finally getting to meet the famous Caitlin Todd. She'd been waiting four years for this.

She planned what she would say to her and how she would say it, but it all flew out of the door when she acutally saw her. She wasn't unaware; she had seen enough pictures of Caitlin to see that she was a beautiful. Hell, _one_ picture was enough to see that, but it seemed that the years had been good to her. Her long red-brown hair tumbled over her shoulders and curled at the ends by her breasts. Her tan and freckled skin breathed in the air where it wasn't being covered by her cream color tank top and her low waisted mauve skirt. A band of skin was visible in between the two articles of clothing as were a few spots of ink. On her head was a tiled fedora to match her skirt and sunglasses shielded her hazel eyes.

Pictures didn't do Caitlin Todd justice.

Ziva wanted to take a step toward the brunette, but she was afraid that her legs would give out underneath her. Silently, she cursed herself for how she was reacting. She knew this day was going to come. She knew they were going to meet eventually, but she wasn't prepared, not like she thought she was. So she took in a deep steady breath that did nothing to calm her like it was supposed to. "Shalom. I... am more nervous than I expected to be." Did she _really_ just say that out loud?

Kate's laugh was deeper, richer, but somehow more feminine than it was over the phone. "Well, then... that makes two of us. You... They told me that you- that you bought a h-house." The assassin found herself smiling as the woman in front of her stammered and blushed, then finally cleared her throat. "They told me that you bought a house... for us."

It was Ziva's turn to blush. "Yes. I thought it would be more... appropriate for Noah than my apartment. She would always run into the walls when she visited."

A small smile formed as she removed her sunglasses. "That sounds like her."

"I'm sorry to interrupt this little moment," Fornell grunted unapologetically. "But Agent Todd, you were told to head directly to the Hoover building when you landed. You were actually supposed to be escorted. What are you doing here?"

"I did go and I gave them all of my notes before Noah and I had to sit through and meeting that made my ears bleed and my ass go numb," she told him. "I am no longer an accessory of the FBI's, Fornell so what I'm doing here is my business and for the first time in four years, I don't have to tell you. I don't have to tell you damn thing anymore." And she ended with a smile.

"Your flight wasn't supposed to land until 10:50," he pointed out as he looked through his files.

She shrugged. "We left early. You can go get Farid now if you'd like. I've said my peace with him. He's all yours." With a few grumbled words, Fornell pulled out his phone and stalked off. "I probably should've told him that Farid's still unconscience."

"Katie."

A thousand watt grin stretched across Kate's face as she crossed to her old boss's desk. The two of them stood right up against each other, just like they used to. "You know, Gibbs. It really astounds me that even after four years, your voice still gets to me." A single tear raced down her cheek and neither of them attempted to stop it. "I'm... sorry," she croaked, suddenly overwhelmed with all of her old feelings for him that she'd had to squash down during her mission. "I'm so... sorry. I wanted you to know, but they wouldn't..." she pulled a breath through her teeth. "They wouldn't let Ziva tell anyone... not even you."

"You don't need to apologize, Katie." He embraced her, wrapping his arms around her slim body, and rested his cheek on the top of her head. "Don't ever apologize." He squeezed his eyes shut over the emotion, trying to keep his own tears at bay. The relief he felt was enough to knock him over. "I never thought I'd be able to hug you again."

She nodded and pulled back to look up into his eyes. Her breathing hitched at everything that was in them. Relief. Love. Fear. Anger. Confusion. Excitement. Elation. "Gibbs..."

Feeling as though she was invading on a private moment, Ziva turned her attention over to the stroller Kate had been pushing when she arrived, more particularly the contents of the stroller. Bending down, she let her eyes take in the sleeping child's serene features and allowed it to distract her from the awful churning in her gut that appeared upon seeing her boss embrace Caitlin. Shaking her head, she took one of the tiny, taupe colored fists into her larger, slightly darker one. It was enough to make her smile a bit. She had missed her little yakiri.

"You're really alive." That was really the only thing running through Tony's mind and had been since he saw her come in and speak. She was really alive. "How...? We saw you die. Ducky did your autopsy."

"It was a dummy round. It sounds like the real thing, but it isn't. It was injected with a paralyzing agent that's meant to shock the system into death and then back to life, which was what it did," Kate explicated, pulling away from Gibbs only enough so a single sheet of paper could be placed in between them. "And you'll have to ask Ducky about what he autopsied. All I know about that is he was told that the FBI would be performing my autopsy and not to ask any questions about it." Her gaze roved over the older version of the DiNozzo she knew and she couldn't help but smile. "It's okay if you hate me, Tony. I'm ready for it."

It was several moments before he responded. "I don't. I don't hate you, Kate." He sighed as she walked over to her. "I don't know what I am right now, but I'm glad that you're... okay," he punctuated his sentence with a long overdue hug that McGee joined. "Probie, what are you doing?"

"Well, it... looked like a group hug," the computer geek mumbled as he stepped back.

"I can't believe you still call him that, Tony," Kate chuckled as she hugged McGee. "God, I've missed all of you so much. I've missed being home and driving my own car. I can't wait until I can have my own car again."

Ziva was able to laugh at that. "And if I remember correctly, you are going to have a day where you do nothing but stay in bed the entire time while you stich Gibbs's rules to various pillows."

"You remembered?" Kate wondered curiously.

The brown eyed woman glanced over her shoulder at her. "Was I not supposed to?"

"No, no, I just didn't expect you to remember. I told you that months ago. Your memory is something else, Ziva," she told her, flashing her an appreciative smile.

"It's not just my memory, Caitlin," Ziva stated as she turned back to the now stirring baby. "Your voice makes it very easy to listen to you. I'm sure you could be very persuasive if you wanted to."

She could hear the smirk in Caitlin's voice. "Oh, you have no _idea_ just how persuasive I can be, Nemo."

The Mossad officer laughed and Tony made a face. "Nemo?"

"Um, when Noah isn't with me, she thinks that I am lost. We watched that children's movie about the lost fish and she pointed at that screen and in her own... word surmised that I am like Nemo and she calls me that occasionally," Ziva informed them as she lifted the little girl from the stroller and sat her on her hip. The toddler's head lolled to the side as she blinked herelf awake.

"What I'm curious about is the reason why the FBI told _you_ that Kate was alive and not us or her family or at the very least, Gibbs," Tony said and it put thoughtful looks on Gibbs's face and McGee's.

Kate cut her gaze to Ziva who was steadfastedly ignoring it. "Fornell told you I was married, but not the person that I married," she assumed.

"That's right," Gibbs confirmed, watching her as she moved to stand in the space between Ziva and Noah and Gibbs, Tony, and McGee. "I don't think he knew or he would've told us."

"I don't think he knew either," she agreed as she pulled a single gold band from her pocket and slipped onto its rightful finger. "My name is Caitlin David. That's why she knows and also why my daughter looks like her. Her name is Noah Isabeth David; she's our daughter. The only way Ziva and I were allowed to communicate was through telephone calls, which was easy since we're both up all hours of the day anyway. I didn't even know who she was until she told me during our fourth phone call and by that time, I was going out of my mind because everyone thought that I was dead. And Gibbs, I couldn't even call you to make myself feel better. I couldn't call anyone, but her, Mossad, and Fornell. As you can probably imagine, she kept me sane even accidentally."

"That must have been difficult," Tony commented.

She nodded. "It was."

"No, I meant the part about Ziva keeping you, of all people, sane. I mean, you married her, for God's sake." His laughter was cut off by two sharp punches to his arm, same spot. "Ow!"

"As much as we fought, DiNozzo, I've missed you," she admitted. She went to say more, but a giggle caught her attention.

"Mommy, I find Nemo," Noah declared as she collapsed in a fit of giggles. Ziva herself was chuckling at her daughter's display. She had just woken up and she was already laughing. "Ima, misschu."

"I missed you, too, Little One." She was barely able to keep her tears in check as she hugged Noah. She was eternally grateful they never had to be apart again.

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><p><strong>Review, per favore.<strong>

**~Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**


	3. My Hero

**All the Best Lies, They Are Told With Fingers Tied**

**By Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**

**Chapter III: My Hero**

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><p><em>Too alarming now to talk it out… Truth or consequence, say it aloud.<em>

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><p>"It's big," Kate commented as she and Ziva sat down at the island in the kitchen, which was at the back of the house. Noah was sitting on the top of the island in front of Ziva, busying herself with drawing invisible shapes in the air.<p>

"Too big?" The other woman asked, frowning.

Kate shook her head. "No, not too big. It's just bigger than I expected."

"That is what she said," Ziva smirked.

"Let me guess," she laughed. "You learned that from Tony?"

"No, actually, I taught him that," the curly haired woman chuckled, sheepishly before letting a silence lapse in between them. She didn't know what to say. They had only ever spoken over the phone and most of the time it was about miscellaneous things. There was only so much you could say to a person over a period of four years. There was also the added fact that they were married and they had just met for the first time. Perhaps if she went back to their last conversation before Caitlin was set to come home.

"So, you and Tony, huh?" The brunette raised an eyebrow as she shifted in her seat. "I guess that makes sense. Did Abby and McGee ever get back together?"

"Wait, what do you mean 'me and Tony'?" She queried, confused.

"You two are attracted to each other, but that much is obvious. You love him?" Kate inquired in a strange tone.

"He is my partner and my friend and I love him as that." That was mostly the truth, Ziva was able to tell herself.

"S'that all?"

Her jaw tightened at the insinuation. Who did she think she was? "What about you and Gibbs? It is obvious that you two have slept together."

Kate laughed quietly and flicked her eyes to the countertop. She knew people would assume that, most had before she left. "Mmm. My relationship with Gibbs has been and will always be confusing to people who aren't us. How about this, let's talk about you and I. Tell me what I should be assuming about you buying this house. We both kind of avoided what would happen when I finally came home."

"Yes," Ziva sighed in relief that the subject had been changed. "We did. I think that I would like you to stay here... I think that I would like you both to stay here with me."

"Then I'll stay."

"But," she chuckled nervously. "I just recently moved in and there are only two available rooms: the baby's room and my room."

"Well, seeing as how we are legally married and all, I should probably sleep in your room, which would then make it _our_ room, which would make this whole situation a bit more normal than it really is." She moved around the island and stood in front of her wife. "Are sure you this is what you want? I mean, there's always Tony..."

The Israeli narrowed her eyes. "I could be asking you the same thing about Gibbs, Caitlin. If I did not want you here, I would not have bought this house and I would not have just told you to stay here."

Kate nodded. "Then I should go unpack. Noah, you ready live with Ima?"

Noah giggled happily and tugged lightly at her Ima's curls. "Yesh!"

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><p>Later in the evening, Ziva was in Noah's room drying off the baby from the bath she had just given her when the doorbell rang. Noah chortled at the sound and wriggled away from her mother and ran out of the room and down the hall, but had to stop at the top of the stairs, where she was scooped back up in her towel.<p>

"You are such a silly baby," the woman said playfully, dropping a kiss to her child's exposed tummy causing more high pitched laughter.

"Silly baby!" Noah repeated gaily as she was secured back in her towel.

It was hard not to grin at the amount of adorable the little girl was showing. "Why are you always so giggly?" She shook her head as she opened the door to reveal her favorite Goth. "Abby, come in."

"Hi, Ziva," the black haired woman greeted as she entered. "Who's this little cutie?"

"Shalom!" The 'little cutie' grinned, waving at the guest enthusiastically and pointing to herself. "No-wah. Wha you name?"

"I'm Abby," the forensic scientist waved back, flashing her own grin.

"This is my daughter," Ziva informed her friend, bouncing Noah on her hip as she led her back to through the kitchen to the living room right across from it. "She just had a bath."

"You have a baby? That's not possible. She can't be more than two and you haven't been pregnant," Abby expounded, seeming startled by the information.

"I did not give birth to her, actually," she confessed. "But she is mine, biologically speaking."

"Mine!" Noah sang happily, slipping away from her mother once again to jump up and down in all of her naked glory. "Mine! Mine! Mine! Ima mine!"

Ziva was never able to keep in her laughter around her daughter. "Noah, you will catch a chill."

"Cold," a voice corrected from the kitchen. Both women glanced up, one in more shock than the other. Kate's back was turned and she was only wearing a towel. "Shalom, Abby."

"Kate." The Goth stood up as Kate turned around with a mug in her hand.

She didn't move to step into the living room or closer to them at all. She just stood there with her head cocked to the side and that little smile of hers that was almost mischievous. "It's really me, Abby. I'm back."

"Wha... how... I don't... you were dead."

"Call it an optical illusion, Abs," the brown/auburn haired woman said, still not moving. "My death was staged so I could be used for an assignment in Israel. I just got back this morning." When Abby didn't move or speak, she continued. "I was going to come see you, but they told me you took the day off or something."

"They?"

Kate let a breath leave her at the question. "Gibbs. He told me."

"Gibbs knows your back?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but that's another conversation for another time."

"Why are you here?" Abby inquired as her eyes began to water.

"Here as in back or here as in with Ziva?" She queried for clarification.

"Both," the black haired woman croaked, running up to tackle her recently believed to be deceased friend in a long overdue hug.

She was received with open arms and a watery smile. "I finished my assignment so I came back. As for why I'm here with Ziva… well, she and I… we're married… to each other. Noah is our baby. It's sort of complicated."

"You're married? But you don't even know each other!" The forensic scientist exclaimed, glancing between the two women.

"We know," they answered at the same time.

"We haven't really discussed what we're going to do, besides us living together," Kate told her.

Ziva nodded. "I think that I would like to have us all living together… for Noah."

"You two had a baby," Abby stated in awe.

Kate and Ziva grinned at each other before looking at their daughter who had preoccupied herself with bouncing on her knees. This was going to be an interesting time.

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><p><strong>Review, per favore.<strong>

**~Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**


	4. Untouchable

**All the Best Lies, They Are Told With Fingers Tied**

**By Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**

**Chapter IV: Untouchable**

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><p><em>It's like a million little stars spellingout your name. You gotta come on, come on, say that we'll be together.<em>

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><p>Ziva found it very unnerving to be sitting across from her wife for breakfast the next week. She was so used to doing everything on her own and having a pair of eyes watching her was something she wasn't exactly used to yet. She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what she would say so started with something light.<p>

"How did you sleep?"

"With my eyes closed," the other woman giggled, stirring her coffee with her spoon.

Brown eyes narrowed in amusement. "Why do I always fall for that?"

"Because you think it's cute when I say that so you ask the same question every time I wake up." A smile tugged at the corner of her lips upon seeing Ziva blush lightly.

"You're very cheeky in the morning," she observed, sipping her own coffee. Silently, she conceded that she liked it when she was being cheeky.

"I just wanted to lighten the mood before we got to the good stuff," Kate told her.

"The good stuff?" And yes, confused Ziva David was so adorable that she had to smile.

"Ask me what you've wanted to ask me for the past week, Ziva," the auburn haired woman said, leaning back in her seat. She ought to get comfortable for this.

The olive skinned woman raised her eyebrows, though there was no use pretending with Caitlin. So she sighed. "You are Catholic."

Kate nodded slightly. "And you are Jewish. Continue."

"I have some concerns, of course," she pressed on, ignoring the interruption. "Do you plan to… pursue a romantic relationship with me? Or do you plan to divorce me and be with Gibbs?" She shook her head at the phrasing. "No, that was bad. Um, let me start over. Are you repulsed by the idea of us as a couple?"

"We're married, Ziva," the hazel eyed woman pointed out helpfully.

"That is not what I meant and you know it."

She smiled slightly. "No, I know what you meant. I'm not repulsed by the idea, but I have a feeling you're trying to ask a different question. Would you like to try again?" When all Ziva did was turn her head to the side and fold her arms over her chest, Kate leaned forward and took one of her hands. "Look at me, please." Ziva complied reluctantly. "Now ask your question."

"You were far less bossy over the phone," the NCIS agent grumbled, but didn't break her gaze.

"No, I wasn't. Now, ask me."

Her brown eyes searched the other woman's face as her jaw clinched and unclenched. "Are we going to be together… like an actual married couple?"

Kate's barely there smile stretched into a grin. "Would you like to?"

"I do not know," she confessed softly. "But I would like to try."

"Then we'll try."

"But your family-"

Pale hands squeezed dusty colored ones reassuringly. "Should be happy that I'm alive. They shouldn't have a problem with whom I chose to… like. And I do like you, Ziva. I like you a lot more than ever expected to."

The Israeli uncharacteristically blushed at the words. "I like you a lot, too, Caitlin."

"Good," Kate laughed. "It would have been embarrassing if you didn't."

That got a smile from the curly haired woman. She glanced from their joined hands to hazel-green irises, and then back to their hands and another thought made her brow crease. "What about your relationship with Gibbs?"

"My relationship with you and my relationship with Gibbs have nothing to do with each other. They're two different dynamics. Neither of you need to worry about losing me," the former NCIS agent let her know, pulling her hands into her lap and sitting back in her chair once again.

Ziva merely nodded, not exactly sure if that was what she wanted to hear, and stood up from the table. "I'm going to work now."

Kate caught her hand again as she was walking past and pulled her down until they were face level. Her eyes flicked from Ziva's lips to her eyes and back to her lips. When she heard the taller woman's breath hitch, she leaned in and pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth before pulling away with a tiny little grin. "Have a good day."

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><p>"David," Gibbs snapped.<p>

The young woman blinked and turned away from her computer monitor toward him, looking for all the world like she had just woken up from a dream. "Sorry, Gibbs. I'm a little distracted. What is it that you wanted?"

"Your phone's ringing, Ziva," Tony pointed out, not looking up from his computer.

"Oh." _Brrring!_ "_Oh."_ She snatched her cell off of her desk and answered it. "David." Upon hearing the voice on the other line, an involuntary smile spread over her face. "Hi." Pause. "No, we're just doing paperwork." Pause. "For what? What are you sorry for?" When she heard the other person's response, she chuckled softly. "There's nothing to be sorry about. I enjoyed it. I… thought it was cute," she admitted, and she could practically hear Tony's eyebrows rise. "I apologize. I'm just not used to it, yet. You didn't do anything wrong." Pause. "I promise." Pause. "That would be wonderful."

"That's good to know because I'm already here."

Ziva whirled around at the sound of her wife's voice and saw her and their child approaching. Without realizing it, her smile grew significantly. "Hi."

"Shalom, Ima," Noah greeted as she ran around to her mother's desk. "Guess wha, Ima. I had a… a… nigh… a siyut."

"A what?" McGee asked in confusion.

"A nightmare," Kate informed, sitting down Noah's diaper bag and putting a bag of food on Ziva's desk.

"What was your nightmare about?" Tony inquired by way of greeting.

The curly haired child went over to his desk. "I dunno."

"She can't remember," Kate supplied, walking to set a smaller bag of food on Gibbs' desk. She leaned down and kissed his cheek before going back over to her wife. "Tell them what you did this morning, dolcezza."

Noah paused to think about it before her green eyes lit up and she clapped her hands together. "Mama teached me that-"

"No, baby, the other thing," her mother interrupted, sheepishly.

"Oh, I buwned my fingew on the stove," she informed them all.

"Noah!" The embarrassed brunette exclaimed. "The _other_ thing, sweetie."

"_Oh!_" The child suddenly smiled brightly. "I went pee all by myself."

"Motak, that's great," Ziva enthused, scooping her baby up for a hug. "Wait, Caitlin, you let her burn her finger on the stove?"

Kate stood up straight and frowned. "I didn't _let_ her do anything. I was cooking and I told her repeatedly not to touch the stove because it was hot."

"Noah, why did you touch the stove?" Gibbs wondered, beginning to unwrap his sandwich.

Tugging on one of her curls, the toddler grinned. "I wanted to see how hot."

His lip twitched a bit and he was about to respond when Tony beat him to it. "Sounds like something your mothers would do."

"Hey!" Both women protested.

"Are we having a party?" A female voice questioned as a familiar redhead made her way into the bullpen.

"No, just lunch," Tony answered before turning to McGee. "Probie, go check to see if our food got here, yet."

"I'm working, Tony. I know it's a foreign concept to you, but some of us actually do it every once in a while," the junior agent mumbled as he continued to work.

Kate grinned. "Nice, McGee. It could use a little more snark, but the deliver was spot on. I commend you."

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Jenny Sheppard," the NCIS director smiled, holding out her hand.

"Kate," she shook her hand and cast a sideways glance to Ziva who shrugged her shoulders. "Just call me Kate. And before you ask, yes, I'm _that_ Kate. You won't believe how many people here have called me _That_ Kate."

The redhead nodded. "I was just recently informed that you had returned from the dead."

"What else were you recently informed of about me if you don't mind me asking?"

Cocking her head to the side, the director noted the oddness in the other woman's voice before she answered. "Just that you would be back in action before the week was out."

"Gibbs," Noah whispered –well, what she thought was a whisper‒ with the same cute little lisp that Kate had whenever she said his name. "What ak-shun?"

The silver haired agent smiled at the little girl and even though she was confused by the smile, she beamed right back at him, dimples and all.

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><p><strong>Review, per favore.<strong>

**~Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**


	5. Would You Mind?

**All the Best Lies, They Are Told With Fingers Tied**

**By Elphaba C. Snow Thropp **

**Chapter V: Would You Mind?**

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><p><em>Baby, would you mind tasting me, letting my juices free? Feeling your lips on mine. <em>

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><p>A loud, low moan broke from the back of Kate's throat.<p>

"_I'm insatiable and it's all your fault. So much lust involved to get me off my waterfall."_

Her fists clutched the sheets in a vain attempt not to scratch up Ziva's back any more than she already had.

"_Your sexuality breeds a storm inside of me. A touch is all I need to make me scream obscenities." _

Her peachy-tanned skin glistened with sweat in the streams of late afternoon sun that slipped through the closed window blinds in their room.

"_Every time you whisper in my ear, I get aroused. You begin to slowly unbutton my blouse."_

Her abdominal muscles clinched and her thighs shook as the most dangerous, delicious type of heat spread from her core to the rest of her body.

"_Kissing on my skin, my heart's racing now. I want you."_

She sucked in shallow gasping breaths in a desperate attempt to pull in enough air to speak.

"_Caught up in the waves of passion up and down. Love the way you're moving my body all around."_

"Jesus, Ziva… that's so good," she whispered, raising a trembling hand to run it through her damp, dark locks.

"_You 'bout to make the rain come down. You 'bout to make the rain come down."_

When the woman between her legs took her throbbing heat completely into her mouth, she allowed her eyes roll to the back of her head, her toes curl and her desperate scream to fill the room.

"_Feel my rain come, pouring, soaking, longing your lips, baby. You make it so moist."_

The curly haired woman laughed in an almost vicious manner at the sounds she was getting her wife to make. She knew her actions would result in a pleasurable vibration against Kate's swollen, pink bud.

"_When my ocean's overflowing, after-glowing take me. You make me so moist. Orgasmic, row it just like that. Hope you like drowning in it. You don't have a life jacket."_

"Ziva, fuck!" She yelled before letting out a harsh breath at the increase of pleasure that was coiling in her like a snake ready to strike. "Shiiiiiiiit, Ziva… I can't… yes, yes, yes… don't stop!"

_I hadn't intended on it,_ the Israeli thought with a gleeful little smirk when she felt Kate come closer to the edge.

"_My thirst is quenched. Oh, baby, we're so drenched. Our body's rhythms are so cataclysmic. Got me twisted."_

"I'm so close, baby! So close, Ziva… Ziva," she chanted the name over and over until the snake got ready to strike in the best way possible. "Oh, fuck, I'm gonna cum! I'm gonna cum."

_Then by all means, Caitlin, come for me,_ she willed silently, pulling Kate's wet little nub in between her teeth for the finale, which came when she lightly bit down on it.

It was enough to make Kate howl in delight as several waves of ecstasy crashed into her writhing body. The soft music faded into the background as Ziva grabbed the small remote next to her and turned the volume down on their stereo system. The chuckle that left her vibrated against the inside of her lover's thigh, gaining a whimper.

As Ziva began to climb up the brunette's body, Kate started to settle down and when she saw the smug face hovering over her, she giggled and pulled her in for a short kiss. "Wow, you are _really, really_ good at that. God, I can't believe that just happened."

Doubt briefly flickered in brown eyes. "Do you regret it?"

"No! No, of course not, I just didn't expect to have sex this afternoon," she explicated slowly. "I've only been back in the States for a month and I… I don't really know what I expected, but it wasn't this. It was a phenomenal surprise."

Ziva smirked. "Phenomenal, you say?"

Kate laughed when she saw the look on her wife's face. "Oh, don't get so full of yourself."

"I cannot help it," she confessed, leaning down to press her lips against Kate's still-thumping pulse point. "You're very good at boosting one's ego."

Her only response was a snort of laughter before the room fell silent and she was left to her thoughts. What had she been thinking attacking Caitlin like that? She wasn't sure what had come over her, but she had never felt such a primal urge before, not with anyone. She had been lying in bed thinking about the case they had just closed that afternoon when Caitlin came in. She wasn't wearing anything particularly revealing, her hair wasn't in any sort of way that she didn't normally wear it, and her make-up wasn't any different than it usually was. But when brown eyes trailed down that thin, lean body, an animalist part of her took over and she grabbed the other woman and proceeded to ravish her body… every. Single. Inch. She hadn't even remembered to ask Caitlin about the job she never talked about.

"Caitlin?"

"Mmm?"

"Are you sleeping?" She inquired softly.

"It's hard to sleep with you breathing on my nipple like that, so no," she replied with a chuckle.

Instead of latching onto the pink nub and instigating another round of fun like she was very tempted to do, she simply ran the flat of her tongue over it and settled her chin on Kate's sternum. "Why don't you ever talk about your work?"

There was a quiet moment before the older woman responded. "It's not something I like to bring home with me, but we can talk about it if you'd like."

"Where do you work?" Ziva wondered. "You always tell me and Gibbs that you might be working late and you end up coming home at all hours of the morning. And you go to work on your days off when you're called. Who do you even work for?"

"I work wherever I'm sent. And as for who I work for…" she took a moment to ponder this. "That part's kind of complicated. I'm employed by the government, but I sort of hop around from agency to agency. Currently, I'm doing a few things for the CIA."

"How do you manage that?"

"Well, they sort of owe me for taking my whole life away and because I'm special," she grinned cheekily.

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><p><strong>Moist by Janet Jackson<strong>

**Review, per favore.**

**~Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**


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